Electrical vaporizer



Feb. 4, 1941. J. ROBKNSON 2,230,265

ELECTRICAL VAPORIZER Filed July 21, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 'l INVENTOR.

JOJEPH EOB/NJO/V Y MWL A TTORNEYS.

Feb. 4, 1941. ms 2,230,265

ELECTRICAL VAPORI ZER Filed Jdly 21, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Iii l vINVENTOR. JOJEPH POB/NJO/V, BY

A TTORNEYS.

Feb. 4, 1941. J. ROBINSON ELECTRICAL VAPORIZER Filed July 21 1938 3Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. fOJfPH ,Pos/wo/v, BY-

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRICAL VAPORIZERJoseph Robinson, New York, N. Y.

Application July 21, 1938, Serial No. 220,481

4 Claims.

This invention relates to electricalvaporizers of the hand type forgenerating hot medicated vapors for treating head colds, catarrh, sinusinfection, and other afflictions of the upper respiratory organs. Amongthe objects are to improve the efiiciency and appearance of previoustypes of these instruments by providing an attractive streamline casingfor the mechanical parts; by removably connecting the cap or nasal 10member to the handle or housing of the instrument against accidentaldislodgement therefrom; by making the heater and switch assembly asimple inexpensive unit; by effectively providing against seepage of thevapors into the w interior of the handle of the instrument; bysimplifying the construction of the medicament container, and byproviding a new location for the heater whereby the liquid tightconnection between the container and the handle will not 26 be burned orloosened by heat from the heater.

Simple means for supporting the vaporizer in a generally uprightposition are also provided.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of myimprovement.

25 Figure 2 is a vertical section therethrough;

Figure 3 is a top View of the handle 13 with the mechanical partsremoved except the switch button 20;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of my improved heater and switch assembly;

Figure 5 is a front view in elevation of the contact blade;

Figure 6 is a bottom view of the heater D showing the method ofattaching the blade thereto;

Figure 7 is a front view in elevation of the separator strip 40;

Figure 8 is a side elevation similar to Figure 1 showing the handle orhousing 13 modified to receive a pivoted detachable stand G;

Figure 9 is a front elevation of the stand shown in Figure 8, and

Figure 10 is a side elevation of the cap A with a part thereof brokenaway, showing the cap modified slightly to receive a suitable wall hookor other support on which the vaporizer may be hung or supported.

The hollow cap or cover A and the elongated 50 hollow handle or housingB may be made of any suitable material, but are preferably molded of aplastic such as Bakelite or Plaskon. The outline of the two parts issuch that when assembled they produce a casing or shell having thegraceful streamlines shown in Figure 1. The

upper end of the handle is provided with an extension or neck H threadedat l2 to receive the threads of the cap A. The bottom of the cap fitstightly against the stop or shoulder 14 on the handle when the cap isscrewed down. The ar- 5 rangement provides means on the exterior of theneck Ii, at or near the bottom of the neck, against which the insulatingbottom portion of the cover A when in place has tight wedgingengagemerlt whereby the cover is held firmly on 0 the handle andwobbling thereon and accidental dislodgement therefrom are prevented. Oninhalation currents of air are admitted to the interior or chamber ofthe cap by vents [5 which extend inwardly through the bottom of the capand thence turn upwardly, terminating at approximately the top of thecontainer C.

To support the heater D horizontally in the handle with its topsubstantially in the plane of the shoulder M, a plurality of suitablesegmental seats Iii-l1, Figure 3, are provided on the interior of thehandle. These seats are spaced so as to clear the vertical way I8arranged for the fiat head IQ of the switch button 20.

' The container C is made of any desired mate rial such an aluminum andis preferably, though not necessarily, of one piece construction turnedback on itself to form the relatively deep medicament receiving cup 2|and the relatively short depending skirt 22 spaced laterally outwardfrom the walls of the cup. The container is mounted and positioned onthe upper portion of the neck H by pressing the skirt tightly on theneck and by then crimping or drawing the bottom edge of the skirt over ashoulder 23 formed on the neck to so receive it. The connection thusformed is liquid tight, and inasmuch as the heater D is not set on topof the neck, but is positioned a substantial distance below it where thehandle or housing B is thickest, the exterior of the handle will remaincomfortably cool, and the straight vertical Walls of the neck whichreceive the skirt 22 will not be burned nor will they be heated to anextent causing any loosening of the connection between these parts.

The heater D includes a disc shaped base or coil support 24 in the topof which spiral like grooves 25 are formed to receive the resistancecoil 26. One end of the coil is anchored under the head of the outerscrew 21 and the other end is secured under the head of the center screw28, as shown best in Figures 2 and 6. A third screw 29 cuts through oneof the walls separating the grooves and, when-in place, its head u ispreferably covered with a suitable cement to prevent the coil 26contacting it. The base 24 is reinforced by a heavy lug 30, Figures 2and 6, which extends from one edge of the base inwardly beyond thecenter screw 28, its inner end 3| forming an abutment for the nut of thescrew 21 and eifectively locking the nut against rotation. The outer endof the lug is reduced in width for a short distance to form a tongue 32to mate with a complementary groove or notch 33, Figure 3, in section I!of the heater seat to prevent the heater from turning in the handle orhousing B and moving the contact blade E of the switch out of alignmentwith the switch button 20. The blade E is preferably U-shaped and madeof spring wire. At one end it terminates in inwardly turned fingers 34,Figures 4 and 6, which span the lug on the bottom of the heater andwhich are rigidly clamped to the heater by the screw 29 and by a spanneror wedge 35 which straddles the lug and is placed under the nut of thisscrew, shown best in Figures 4 and 6. The rear uprights 36 of the bladerest against the adjacent interior walls of the handle or housing andare supported thereby against lateral movement when the switch button 20is pressed. The inner uprights 31 of the blade project upwardly beyondthe bottom of the screw 21, against which the blade is adapted to bepressed to close the electric circuit, and bear against and exertpressure on the switch button to hold the latter firmly at the limit ofits outward movement. One of the strands 38 of the electric cord Fconnects to the outer screw 29 and the other strand connects to thecenter screw 28, both strands being embraced by the arms of the blade E,Figure 2. The cord is knotted at 39 to relieve the strands of pullingstrains in service. To permanently prevent contact between these strandsI separate them with a fibre or other insulator strip 40 which isnotched at M to closely span the lug 39 of the heater D, and is providedwith projections 42 that fit in complementary grooves 43 molded insections l6 of V the heater seat in the handle B. It will be observedfrom Figure 2 that the heater is locked to its seat by the container Cwhen the latter is secured to the neck ll of the base in the mannerhereinbefore described, the bottom of the cup 2| of the container beingseated on a mica disc 44 which separates and insulates it from theresistance coil 26.

The modification shown in Figures 8 to 10 provide means for supportingthe vaporizer vertically or generally vertical. One. arrangementinvolves reducing the wall thickness of the base B from the outside toform the stops 45 and 46 against which the removably pivoted wire standG bears when folded, shown in full lines in Figure 8, and when swung outas shown in dotted lines in the same figure. The stand closely spans thebase B and is provided at its top with inwardly turned portions 41 whichsnap into bearings 48 formed in opposite sides of the base, but notextending through its walls, to receive them. The bottom of the standmay be widened as to 49 to more firmly support the vaporizer againstlateral tilting. The support shown in Figure 10 is produced by merelyforming an opening in one side of the cap A to receive a suitable wallhook, nail, or other support 5i Inasmuch as the cap is threaded to thehandle or housing B, the entire vaporizer will be supported by the hook50 when hung thereon.

What I claim is:

1. An electrical vaporizer of the hand type comprising, in combination,an elongated hollow handle which terminates at its upper end in avertically extending hollow neck formed integral with the handle, saidneck being provided with an exterior shoulder near its upper end, ahorizontally disposed rigid seat integral with said handle and arrangedon the interior thereof ad- J'acent the bottom of said neck, a heatermounted on said seat and supported thereby in a horizontal position, acup to contain the substance to be vaporized, said cup being inengagement with said heater and provided with a laterally spaced skirtwhich extends down over the top of said neck and fits snugly therewith,the lower edge of said skirt being spun or turned over said shoulder totightly secure said heater to said seat and said cup to said neck with aclamping action, the connection between the cup and said neckbeing'liquid tight whereby any of the contents of said cup which mayspill over are prevented from entering said neck and contacting saidheater, said heater and said seat being positioned adjacent the bottomof said neck as aforesaid to prevent destruction of the liquid tightconnection between the neck and said cup due to burning or searing ofsaid neck by said heater at the point of connection between the cup andsaid neck, an elongated hollow cover removably set over said neck andextending downwardly along the neck substantially the full length of thelatter into engagement with a stop provided to determine the verticalposition of the cover on said neck, the upper portion of said coverbeing reduced in diameter to form a nasal part for guiding the vaporsdirectly to the nasal passage and the lower part of the covercooperatingwith said neck to insulate against the heat from said heater,said cover being provided with a vent for admitting air to connectingthe cord into circuit communication.

with said heater.

2. An electric vaporizer of the class described, comprising incombination, a housing, a discshaped heater base mounted on said housingand having on its lower side a transversely extending lug, a resistancecoil mounted in ways in the upper side of said heater base, a resilientswitch member extending across said lug and positioned thereby andadapted to be anchored thereto and to said heater base, an electric cordincluding a pair of cables straddled by said switch member, common meansfor connecting said coil into circuit relation with said switch memberand with said cord and for rigidly anchoring said cord and said memberto said heater base, a button extending through a wall of said housinginto operative engagement with said switch member, an insulator stripseparating said cables, said strip being grooved at its top to snuglyreceive said lug thereby to prevent the strands of said cables workingpast the strip into engagement causing a short circuit, said strip beingprovided with portions which fit into grooves in said housing toposition and support the strip vertically and laterally, and aprojection 32 on said heater base adapted to enter a complementaryopening in a wall of said housing to position said heater base and saidswitch member therein and with respect to said button, said switchmember being carried entirely by said heater base.

3. A vaporizer such as described in claim 1, distinguished further byprovision of means pivoted on said handle and carried thereby andadapted to be swung outwardly therefrom to support said vaporizer in anupwardly inclined 10 position.

4. A vaporizer such as described in claim 1,

distinguished further by the fact that said stop is externally arrangedon said neck adjacent the bottom of the neck and that against said stopthe insulating bottom portion of said cover when in place has tightwedging engagement whereby the cover is held firmly on said handle andaccidental dislodgement of the cover from the handle, thereby exposingthe hot exterior surfaces of said cup, is prevented.

JOSEPH ROBINSON.

